


Misunderstood

by MidnightMarchioness



Category: Naruto
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Little bit of Fluff, Little bit of angst, One Shot, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-03
Updated: 2019-04-03
Packaged: 2020-01-04 12:05:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18343343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightMarchioness/pseuds/MidnightMarchioness
Summary: Anko is left with two choices when a mission goes wrong keep it to herself and accept the consequences or tell someone.





	Misunderstood

**Author's Note:**

> This is more about exploring how the village sees Anko than a ship fic so sorry all you shippers you'll have to look elsewhere. I mean there is a little bit at the end but not much.

She stood under what little protection the small awning offered from the onslaught of rain. Water splashed up from the ground around her ankles while the steady drips of water falling from her jacket were another reminder that she was soaked to the bone.

She doesn’t care about any of it.

All that matters is if she should knock on this damn door or turn around and go home.  For the fifth time in as many minutes she raised her curled fist to knock but lets it drop to her side just as quickly.

_Coward_

She berates mentally with whatever part of her hasn’t succumbed to the numbness.  Her movements are sloppy and slow and she can’t will herself to leave, which is exactly why she’s stuck here unmoving. Finally she huffs and raises her fist again and knocks lightly. She listens for movement.

Nothing

She feels something in her chest fall into her stomach and it makes her sick.  She knocks again louder and more insistent. Incoherent mumbles reach her ears and she stills again. Shuffling feet approach the door and it swings open in another few seconds. The man himself yawns softly and takes in her appearance. His demeanor changes as he looks her over and no longer does he lean against the door frame instead standing up straight, eyes alert.

“Anko”

“Sorry to bother you Iruka but I don’t think I should be alone right now.” Her voice is small to her own ears and her hands find their way into her jacket pockets. She isn’t surprised in the slightest when he grabs her sleeve and all but drags her into the apartment. She vaguely registers how he slips the coat off of her and hangs it on a peg by the door.

What she doesn’t remember, however, is how she ends up in the bathroom with a set of clean clothes set aside for her on the counter. She stares at her reflection for a brief moment before stripping and setting the water to as hot as it can go.

It doesn’t burn her somehow.

She only turns the water off when she realizes that she is shivering and the water has gone from scalding to freezing. She barely dries herself off before slipping on the clothes that are two sizes two big. Her wet hair clings to her face and neck and she resists the urge to grab and pull at it.

He’s sitting on the couch when she steps out, an untouched cup of tea on the tiny coffee table. Reluctantly she paddles over and sits as far away from him as possible.

“You’re shivering.” Without even looking she knows he is concerned but she can’t bring herself to care. Instead she shrugs and he pushes the steaming cup from the table into her hand commanding her to drink. She does so obediently and he leaves for a minute and returns with a heavy wool blanket. He carefully drapes it around her shoulders as she continues to sip. He waits till she sets the cup down before speaking.

“What happened?” 

She surprises even herself when she laughs bitterly. “What didn’t happen?”  A warm strong hand is wrapped around hers gripping with a steady pressure. It’s almost comforting… almost.

“You’ll think I’m weak.”  The pressure increases.

“You _know_ that I won’t.”  She doesn’t try to stop what happens next as she leans into his chest and he wraps his other arm around her shoulder. She curls her legs onto the couch and listens to the steady thump of his heart.

“We were following Orochimaru’s trail.” He tenses under her and she tries not to let it affect her too much.

“And of course we were unlucky enough to run into the bastard himself.  He split me up from the team and his assistant went after the other two while I was left alone. I- ” She shutters involuntarily. “I thought I could at least stall him or bait him into a trap but I overestimated myself.” She bit her lip hard until she could taste the blood and spoke through clenched teeth.

 “He was toying with me dammit and I couldn’t do shit. It pissed me off and he just kept goading me until I couldn’t think straight and started getting sloppy.” She released her lip and licked at the cut.

“Fell for a fucking poisoned kunai. Damn thing wasn’t even lethal it just paralyzed me.” She cursed her recklessness a few more times under her breath.

“It couldn’t have been ten minutes before four eyes came back covered in blood…” The arm tightened around her shoulder and she felt the anger coming off of him in waves. She reached up and touched the hand wrapped around her shoulder and he exhaled heavily through his nose. 

“Snake bastard told me right to my face that it was my fault they had died and I spit every curse in the damn book at him.” She could feel hot tears coming on but held them back. She would be damned before she cried tonight.

“He offered me a chance to come back to him and I spit poison in his face. Four eyes would have killed me for that but Orochimaru held him back.” She held her breath for a few seconds “Straight up said that it would be worse for me to let me live and send me back than to kill me.” She looks up at him and grins at the twisted irony of the situation.

“And he’s right. If the village hadn’t considered me a traitor before they’ll have even greater reason to doubt me now. Not only was I the only one to return alive from a mission where we encountered Orochimaru, but people have suspected me of treason for years. Hell the fact that I have gone out of my way to track the scaly bastard just gives them more reason to suspect me of passing him information. I mean why else would I spend years tracking him down?”

She dug her fingernails into her legs.  “I guarantee that whatever family those two jounin have are going to be banging down the Hokages door demanding I be charged with treason.”  She abruptly stood up and began pacing.

“And it won’t just stop with them, I’m sure there are plenty of ninja that are willing to jump onto the bandwagon of thinking I’m a traitor and by this time tomorrow their will probably be an angry mob calling for my head.” Her hands found her way into her hair and she pulled hard.  

He was by her side in an instant prying her hands out of her hair and taking them both in his own. “Lady Tsunade won’t let that happen.”

“Oh please that woman hates me.” He let go of one of her hands and wrenched her chin upwards so she could see how serious he is. “Regardless of her personal opinion I’m sure she won’t allow that to happen.” Anko snorted and pushed his hand away.

“Even if the entire village is against me?” Briefly she saw sympathy flicker in his eyes but he stomped it down so quick she second guessed if she had seen it in the first place.

“And why do you assume the whole village to be against you?” Anko instantly regretted her choice of words as he had read between the lines and guessed the true meaning.

“Because they are.” She said bluntly. “I have no friends my teammates hate my guts. Civilians and kids are terrified of my snakes, most of the jounin consider me a traitor and the rest think I’m either terrifying or overly abrasive to the point where they avoid me.” He shook his head and smiled clearly thinking she was over exaggerating.

“Oh please I’m sure Kakashi and Gai aren’t afraid of you.” She looked at him as if to say _really_.

“Kakashi is all too aware that I would a security hazard to the village if I ever decide to turn traitor if I haven’t already. And Gai thinks I would be a bad influence on his students because of my colorful language and tendency to get into fistfights.” Iruka looked lost.

“Kurenai?”

“She’s too busy gawking over Asuma to realize I exist and I’m not feminine enough for her standards.”

“Asuma?”

“The former problem in reverse except he is terrified of me.”

“Ebisu, Genma?”

“First hates my fashion sense and second thinks I’m out to kill him for some reason.”

The teacher scratched his scar in disbelief. “Wow…” Was the only thing he could think to reply with. She smiled wryly. “Yeah wow.” She shrugged.

“Honestly I don’t think anyone would care if I suddenly decided to go missing.” He tensed.

“Anko-“

“Relax you know I’m not good with words and that was not what I meant.” She pulled at the big sleeves of the shirt that enveloped her and sat down again. He hesitated before sitting next to her.

“I mean if I died tomorrow how many people would know or care?”  She ran a hand through her irritated scalp and massaged the spots where it hurt the most. 

“Hell most would be jumping for joy that the scary snake lady is gone, and the rest would be toasting the fact that another traitor was given what they deserved.” She combed through her hair with her fingers before laying her hand back down. Leaning her head against the back of the couch she stared up at the ceiling.

“They probably wouldn’t even put my name on the memorial stone…” Covering her eyes she sighed.

“I’m just so tired of trying to prove I’m not what everyone thinks I am, maybe I should just die and get it over with.” She thought she had said the last part to low for him to hear but apparently not.

“Tell me please that you aren’t thinking of killing yourself.” She removed her hand and looked at him. It was clear he was trying to keep his emotions in check, but one look in his eyes was like watching a kid try to hide something from their parents; they failed miserably. He was one push away from dragging her to Ibiki for mental rehabilitation so that she wouldn’t hurt herself.

“I would be lying if I said I hadn’t thought of it but that would be the coward’s way out. Besides they would just write it off as me being guilty for betraying the village or some other shit.”  She cracked her knuckles until she felt calm again.

“Maybe I should see if Tsunade would let me retire. Then at least I won’t be privileged with secrets and the damn bastards will have to get off my back.”

“You know we need every ninja we have right now.” He put in. “It was just wishful thinking Iruka. I’ll get by somehow.” He seemed to be thinking deeply and she lightly elbowed his arm to snap him out of it. He had a strange look in his eye that scared her.

“I want you to stay over tonight and I’m going to talk with Lady Tsunade tomorrow.” And there was what she was scared he would say. “No you’re not.” He had been expecting the answer and met her glare head on.

“I am Anko and as one of the heads of the mission board I am sending you to be psycho evaluated first thing in the morning.”

“I won’t.” She growled.

“You are if I have to enlist every S rank jounin available to drag you to Ibiki kicking and screaming.” He retorted without hesitation.

“You are treading very dangerous ground here sensei and I advise you to back off before the snake bites.”  Towering over him she hissed between her teeth.

“Try it.” He challenged and she pulled him to his feet by the vest. “I am not weak and I do not need to be babied by you or Ibiki.” He grabbed her elbows tightly. “You know damn well that I know how strong you are and I know that you know that I am just doing what I think is right.”

“Right for you or me Iruka.” Apparently that was the wrong thing to say. She only knows that one second she has him by the vest and the next she is pinned to the wall by his weight palms firmly pressed against the wood by his own.

“Damn you.” She hisses and struggles.

She writhes harder and tries to kick at his legs but she doesn’t have enough space to build up any momentum. He lets her wear herself out thrashing until she stops struggling. She lays her head against the wall and bites her lip. He lets go slowly and pulls away. She turns on her heel and slaps him. He doesn’t say anything merely holds his cheek. She only knows how tired she is.

He opens his arms and she doesn’t hesitate before falling into them.

“Sorry for slapping you.” She mumbles but he seems to understand anyway.

“No need to apologize. You’re hurting right now and I don’t think anyone can blame you for that.” She opens her mouth to retort but he quickly amends the statement.

“ _I_ can’t blame you for that.” She sighs.

“I don’t know what to do.” She admits and he is sure it has to be kill her pride to do so.

“We’ll figure it out Anko. Even if the whole village is against you I won’t abandon you no matter what.”

“How can you say that so confidently?” He chuckles to her surprise.

“You know I had a student who feels exactly the way you do right now and everything turned out just fine for him.” She pulls away her gaze piercing.

“Who.” She demands. If there is someone who feels exactly like her she wants his name just so she can go teach his bullies a lesson they’ll never forget. Iruka smiles knowingly.

“Naruto.” He says without more prodding. She looks at him dumbfounded.

“The demon brat.” He chuckles again at the answer.

“You just proved my point by calling him that.” She shuts her mouth as if it has betrayed her.

“What about him?” She continues “I mean everyone basically worships him.”  He smirks.

“It wasn’t like that at the start Anko everyone was afraid of him ninja included.” His eyes gain a far off look as he recalls. “I was too at one point before I became his teacher.” He shakes his head to clear before any bad thoughts can surface. “I realized though that he was just a child who was hurting because people only saw him for the fox not for child, I-“

He cuts off for a second and she can see the tale tell signs of guilt in his features. “He was hurting and I knew it but I was too afraid of what the village would think of me if I helped him too much…” He trails off for a second before starting again abruptly “I failed Naruto back then and I won’t turn my back on anyone else again consequences be damned.” He smiles warmly and tilts his head.

“And I mean if Naruto can overcome his circumstances I’m positive you can too Anko.” He’s genuine and she can see it plain as day in front of her even if she’s tempted not to believe it. Instead she grabs him by the vest again and his eyes widen. Before she can think of the consequences, she pulls him in for a quick kiss. She pushes him away before long and he’s left gawking and sputtering.

“You’re so caring I think I might decide to keep you.” He blushes up to his ears and she can only be reminded of an academy student with a crush. She smirks at his bashfulness and reaches up to ruffle his hair. He blinks as if he can’t process what is happening and she giggles. “Yep I’m definitely going to keep you.” He swallows twice before he is able to make his voice work.

“Um I don’t think I understand.” She shrugs and removes her hand deciding that she has messed with him enough tonight. Plopping down on the sofa and pulling the neglected blanket around her she makes herself comfortable. Seeing this is apparently enough to switch him back into ‘good host’ mode and he starts to protest.

Anko you don’t need to sleep on the-“ She cracks an accusing eye open and he shuts his mouth.

“Let me go get you a pillow.” She smirks as he leaves. Her last thought before she falls asleep is how soft his hair is.


End file.
